General Chennault's Secret Weapon: The B-24 in China

This book records the World War II experiences of Captain Elmer E. Haynes, who flew low-altitude night radar strikes against Japanese shipping in the South China Sea, and daylight raids against various enemy land based installations in eastern and central China. Haynes flew secretly developed B-24 Liberator bombers that were equipped with radar which had been integrated with the Norden bombsight for night missions. These B-24's operated with the 14th Air Force--General Chennault's Flying Tigers. The bombing attacks were so accurate and successful that, in a little over a year, Haynes and his fellow pilots had sunk approximately a million tons of Japanese shipping. Due to the Top Secret classification of this equipment, the story of the radar B-24's, operating with the Flying Tigers, has never before been told. The war in the Pacific was definitely brought to a quicker end by the devastating destruction caused by the sinking of such a tremendous number of Japanese merchant and naval vessels in the South China Sea. In its three years of operation, the 14th Air Force was credited with sinking two and a half million tons of enemy shipping. The radar-equipped B-24's were also used on reconnaissance missions--locating Japanese convoys for U.S. naval ships and submarines. Military historians, and anyone interested in World War II, will find this story highly informative, since it discloses never before published facts about the development of radar systems by the United States. This same radar technique was used by B-17's during the saturation night bombing raids over Germany.

Table of Contents:
Flight to Chabua, India Introduction to War In China Combat at Last The Air War Heats Up The Quick and The Dead Suichwan--Outpost in Hell The Legend of "Hainan Harry" R&R--Rest and Recreation in China Ordeal in the Jungle: Harry Marshall's Story Panic in the Skies Formation of the 308th Radar Control Detachment No. 1 The South China Sea: Cauldron of Death Japan's Last Hurrah in China Homeward Bound and the Death of Harry Marshall Appendix Index

About the Author :
A.B. FEUER is a military historian and freelance newspaper and magazine journalist. He is the author of Bilibid Diary: The Secret Notebooks of Commander Thomas Hayes (1987), Combat Diary: Episodes from the History of the Twenty-Second Regiment, 1866-1905 (Praeger, 1991), and Coast Watching in the Solomon Islands: The Bougainville Reports, December 1941-July 1943 (Praeger, 1992). He has also published articles in numerous journals, including Military History Magazine, Sea Classics, Civil War Quarterly, and World War II and is a book reviewer for Military Review.

Review :
?General Chennault's Secret Weapon is filled with maps and notes that give the reader a solid background on China and the fighting there. The narrative flows well and reads more like a novel than a diary.?-World War II Magazine ?It includes far more than tactical descriptions. Several entries deal with activity on and off a World War II air base, offering a glimpse of life not found in traditional war histories.?-The Indianapolis Star "It includes far more than tactical descriptions. Several entries deal with activity on and off a World War II air base, offering a glimpse of life not found in traditional war histories."-The Indianapolis Star "General Chennault's Secret Weapon is filled with maps and notes that give the reader a solid background on China and the fighting there. The narrative flows well and reads more like a novel than a diary."-World War II Magazine